The week's activities in and around the U.S. Capitol.
Katrina/Rita loan forgiveness advances
It's been eight years since hurricanes Katrina
and Rita, but Congress Thursday finally got around to passing
legislation that should ensure Metro New Orleans communities with outstanding disaster loans won't have to repay them. Forgiving disaster loans has long been the tradition for the federal government, according to Louisiana congressional members.
Sen. Mary Landrieu, holding FEMA financial information in this 2011 photo, finally declared victory in getting criteria changed for forgiving Katrina/Rita disaster loans.
The process began in 2005 when Congress voted to authorize disaster loans over $5 million for Katrina and Rita. But at the insistence of House GOP leaders, a provision was put in the bill barring loan forgiveness. When Democrats took control of the House and Senate in 2007, Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La, pushed through legislation that authorized FEMA to forgive loans. But about 40 percent of the $1.2 billion in loans for Louisiana communities weren't eligible for forgiveness, under the criteria established by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
Landrieu thought she had that fixed, with new criteria she added to a Hurricane Sandy relief bill last year. But that provision was stripped from the aid package by House Republicans.
Finally, she added the provision to a Senate spending bill for the remainder of the 2013 fiscal year. This time, the House went along and Landrieu was able to declare victory. Without forgiveness, officials in Jefferson, St. Tammany and St. Bernard parishes warned that debt repayment would force cuts in services.
Off to Taiwan for Spring Recess
Rep. John Fleming, R-Minden, is one of a host of lawmakers traveling out of the country during the two-week Congressional spring recess.
Fleming is booked on a trip to Taiwan sponsored by Fu Jen Catholic University that, according to the sponsor, will examine national security and economic policy issues. Some who closely follow politics wonder if the trip signals that Fleming isn't going to run for the U.S. Senate in 2014, when Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., is up for a 4th term. That's because next week is the deadline for reporting campaign donations for the first quarter of 2013. But a Fleming aide said the trip has been long planned and that it doesn't signal one way or another whether Fleming will run for the Senate.
Moving to the Right?Is Rep. Bill Cassidy, R-Baton Rouge, moving further to the right as he considers running for the Senate against not only Landrieu but a field that could include some very conservative GOP candidates, mainly Rep. John Fleming, R-Minden, and former Rep. Jeff Landry, R-New Iberia? Some again brought up what they view is his increasingly conservative voting record when he was one of just 104 House Republican members, fewer than half the GOP membership, to vote for the "alternative" budget Thursday offered by the conservative House Republican Study Committee. The RSC is led by Rep. Steve Scalise, R-Jefferson, who has already said he won't run for the Senate in 2014.
The spending bill was far more conservative than the official Republican budget offered by Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wisc., and that already had been labeled draconian by Democrats.
The RSC proposal balances the budget in four year, instead of the 10 years provided for in the Ryan budget. It also includes provisions not in the Ryan package, such as a gradual rise in the Social Security retirement age from 66 to 70 and restoring the Bush era tax cuts for high wage earners that Republican Congressional leaders and President Barack Obama just agreed to three months ago as part of a deficit reduction package.
Here's what Cassidy had to say about his vote: "Although there are portions of the RSC budget that I would prefer to be different, I agree with its overall goal to make government do what families and businesses already do, which is to live within their means. Currently, the Medicare and Social Security trust funds will be exhausted in a decade -- efforts to preserve and strengthen those programs are crucial." His aides said that Cassidy also voted for the RSC budget in 2012, and that the changes in Social Security and Medicare included in the budget would be phased in over multiple years.
Wait until you see the Ads
Last week, there were lots of votes on measures that won't and can't become law. Why? Both Democrats and Republicans want to force members of the opposing party to cast votes they can use in political ads during the 2014 congressional campaigns. So, Senate Republicans required Senate Democrats to vote on an amendment requiring a balanced budget in 10 years. All but one Democrat voted no, with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid saying the plan would require irresponsible reductions in spending -- especially with Republicans refusing to consider any new tax revenues.
But you can be sure Democrats like Mary Landrieu, D-La., who has already announced that she'll seek a 4th Senate term in 2014, will be criticized for that vote in GOP campaign commercials.
Likewise, Senate Democrats forced Senate Republicans to vote on the House Republican budget proposal that includes big cuts in federal spending, including a dramatic reduction in money available for highways and mass transit and major changes in Medicare for people age 55 and under. Democrats believe that bill is unpopular with voters, even people who generally vote Republican, because of changes in Medicare.
Vitter remembers Obama anniversary, but no card
Sen. David Vitter, R-La., isn't one to forget an anniversary. So, he issued a statement Friday marking the one-year anniversary of a speech by President Barack Obama in which he promised to "cut through the red tape, break through the bureaucratic hurdles," and make a decision on the Keystone XL Pipeline.
Last week, in response to a question by Rep. Steve Scalise, R-Jefferson, Obama said he'd soon decide the matter now that the State Department issued a report that found no major environmental impediments for the pipeline, which would carry Shale gas from Canada to the Gulf Coast.
Said Vitter: "What will it take for the president to follow through on his promise to the American people to make the Keystone XL pipeline happen? The president has had a full year to 'cut through the red tape,' yet we're still waiting for action. We cannot keep the American people waiting for good-paying jobs and lower gas prices when it is reasonably within grasp."
30 times and counting
Last week, the House voted for the 30th time to repeal the Affordable Care Act. The GOP says the measure, the signature achievement of President Barack Obama's first term in office, is overly bureaucratic and expensive and that Congress ought to start fresh on an alternative health reform bill.
Rep. Cedric Richmond of New Orleans, the Louisiana House delegation's only Democrat who voted against the GOP proposal, along with the previous repeal efforts, issued a spirited defense of the law.
He mentioned a recent report by the Department of Health and Human Services that found 60,000 Louisiana seniors saved an average of $704 on medication, and that 1.4 million Louisiana residents no longer have lifetime limits on health coverage as a result of the 2010 law. Also, he said 381,000 seniors have taken advantage of a provision providing free preventative care -- all ahead of provisions that are designed to help low and moderate income Americans obtain health coverage.
"After just three years, Louisianans of all ages have seen lower costs and better coverage," Richmond said.